Interactive Mathematics Initiative

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Maplesoft, a maker of software products for technical education and research, announced a major new initiative to support teaching and learning. The Möbius Project makes it easy to create rich, interactive mathematical applications, share them with everyone, and grade them to assess understanding.

Using Maple, the flagship mathematical software product from Maplesoft, instructors can easily create interactive mathematical applications that help their colleagues and students solve problems, visualize solutions, and explore concepts. These applications are then shared with everyone through The Möbius Project, where they can be freely accessed for use in the classroom and for independent learning. These applications are also gradeable by Maple T.A., the testing and assessment system from Maplesoft, giving instructors a whole new way to measure and deepen students’ understanding.

“As a long-time Maple user, I am very excited about The Möbius Project,” said Dr. Douglas Meade, Department of Mathematics, University of South Carolina. “Now I will be able to share the work I prepare in Maple with others, and see the types of resources other Maple users will create and share through The Möbius Project. I hope that bringing Möbius content to the attention of my students will let them explore mathematics in ways they are extremely comfortable with – through online apps. I am also particularly excited about the possibilities of having gradeable math apps that can easily measure students’ understanding in a manner that isn’t possible now.”

“Instant access to online tools and information is arguably triggering the biggest paradigm shift in mathematics education since the calculator,” says Dr. Laurent Bernardin, Executive Vice President, R&D, Maplesoft. “More than ever before, our customers are looking for new ways to explore concepts and assess understanding, not just perform calculations. The Möbius Project is designed to help educators thrive in this new world.”

The Möbius Project brings together many Maplesoft technologies to support every step of the experience. Maple is used as the authoring environment for the interactive applications and Maple T.A. grades them. Users can interact with the applications using a web browser. MapleNet provides the mathematical power behind The Möbius Project web site to perform the computations. Users can also run the applications directly on their own computer by using Maple or the free Maple Player.